Content Area: Math

 

Index: 4.4D Grade 4 CPI 2

 

Standard: 4.4 - Data Analysis, Probability, and Discrete Mathematics

 

Strand: D - Discrete Mathematics--Vertex-Edge Graphs and Algorithms

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 -  The student will play two-person games and devise strategies for winning the games (e.g., "make 5" where players alternately add 1 or 2 and the person who reaches 5, or another designated number, is the winner).

 

Grade: 4

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        Students play games like Nim and reflect on the moves they make in the game. (See Math for Girls and Other Problem Solvers, by D. Downie et al., for other games for this grade level.) In Nim, you start with a number of piles of objects - for example, you could start with two piles, one with five buttons, the other with seven buttons. Two students alternate moves, and each move consists of taking some or all of the buttons from a single pile; the child who takes the last button off the table wins the game. Once they master this game, students can try Nim with three piles, starting with three piles which have respectively 1, 2, and 3 buttons.

 

·        Students play games like dots and boxes and systematically think about the moves they make in the game. In dots and boxes, you start with a square (or rectangular) array of dots, and two students alternate drawing a line which joins two adjacent dots. Whenever all four sides of a square have been drawn, the student puts her or his initial in the square and draws another line; the person with initials in more squares wins the game.

 

Kidspiration Activity:

 

·        Use symbols and links to create strategies for winning games.